500 Mills Stamp Appraisal

Egyptian King Farouk 500 Mills Postage Stamp

This item is a historical postage stamp from Egypt, featuring a portrait of King Farouk. The stamp is predominantly colored in shades of brown and beige, suggesting an earthy or sepia tone. The portrait of King Farouk is depicted centrally, facing slightly to his left, with details of his face, hair, and collar discernible despite the overprinting. The stamp has distinctive perforated edges, consistent with standard postage stamp manufacturing. At the top, Arabic text is visible, which translates to 'The Egyptian State.' On the left side, the denomination 'Mills' is printed, and on the bottom, 'POSTES D'EGYPTE' is clearly visible, indicating its origin as an Egyptian postal service item. The stamp is heavily postmarked with a black ink cancellation, which obscures a significant portion of King Farouk's face and the surrounding text. The cancellation appears to be a numerical stamp, with '500' and '761' being part of the visible numbers, suggesting it was used a considerable time ago. The condition of the stamp shows clear signs of use and age, including the heavy postmark and what appears to be minor discoloration or patination of the paper. Despite the cancellation, the overall details of the stamp design and its historical context are still evident. The quality of the printing appears fine for its era, indicating a standard level of craftsmanship for philatelic items of this period. The age of the stamp can be estimated to the mid-20th century, given King Farouk's reign from 1936 to 1952. This stamp represents a piece of Egyptian philatelic history from the monarchy era.